Hardware Boiled

Hard Boiled, John Woo's action classic, is one of the greatest shoot-em up movies ever made. Hard Boiled taught me a very important lesson; it doesn't matter how big, strong or fast you are, just what hardware you have. Now please don't mistake this allusion for me going on a shooting rampage like Chow Young Fat's character. I'm using this film as a metaphor for the importance of hardware. I expect cine-mate to have many users constantly updating profiles, preferences or discussing movie news. The only way I could proficiently run this website would be to have effective and efficient hardware at our headquarters.

I expect the main server computer to be suped up, in order to the site to function effectively. The computers running the site would need to have very advanced central processing units (CPU). These cpu's, or processor, carry out basic instruction that operate the computer. With all the activity on the site, I'd need a powerful processor to fix glitches and attend to problems. I would most likely invest in a quad-core processor, which contains four processor cores. I believe the Itanium quad-core processor from Intel would do the trick I would also need to purchase a lot of memory.

My server and other computers would need a healthy amount of random access memory (RAM). RAM is the memory that contains all the operating system files of the computer. I would most like invest in buying magnetoresistive RAM. This RAM is less volatile than others. It has great storage capabilities, uses less power and has faster access time then an electronic RAM.  Putting money into buying capable hardware is extremely important for the site to function. Especially in the first few weeks, any glitch will be a huge turn off for a user. Having fast and efficient hardware will allow the site to function smoothy and give me the opportunity to fix glitches and problems.

The Social Network

Unfortunately, this blog post is not a critical analysis of The Social Network (that movie rocked). Instead, this post will focus on cine-mate's social networking capabilities, especially in regards to privacy. In today's social climate, it is easy to find significant information about an individual, in simply a click of a button. This notion is scary, especially for an up-and-coming professional like myself. For example, Facebook may serve as a gateway for employers to see how stupid I am during the weekend. I am sure no employer would be impressed seeing me in a white jump suit, mouth open, with beer flowing down my esophagus (crazy things happen at theme parties). Fortunately, on cine-mate, none of this personal information is required. 

Cine-mate is not about the individual, but instead, about lurid discussion of pop-culture. A cine-mate member is not required to put in or share any personal information on the website. When a user makes a profile on cine-mate,  all he or she would be asked to include is movie, television and music preferences. Users are not linked via intimate details, but instead, through these aforementioned preferences.  In this aspect, a cine-mate user is safe from the prying eyes of the curious public sphere. 

Though there is a chat component in cine-mate, a user is not encouraged to share personal information. Cine-mate is a vehicle for pop-culture discussion. Hopefully, these chats will focus on rumors about Battleship or a new AMC show, not personal information. These "live-chat" discussions are only open to people participating in them; no one can just google a cine-mate avatar and see what he or she stated in a past chat. My hope is to make cine-mate a safe environment for pop-culture nerds everywhere. 

In the beginning...

     Hello, my name is Eric C. and I am a pop-culture nerd. Going through life with the constant urge to discuss the casting choice of the next Batman film or the merits of a controversial director is hard and tiresome. If only there was a website that could connect me with other cinephiles; a safe-place where we could discuss, support and complain about upcoming products. Well my website idea, Cine-mate, allows just that.
     Cine-mate combines the interface of a movie weblog (like Slashfilm.com, Collider.com, Filmschoolrejects.com, etc.) with the spirit of a social networking site. On cine-mate, under every informational post, instead of a mere "comment section,"will be an interactive chat where individuals can create a real-time dialogue about the factoid or article. Every user will make their own profile, which involves creating a comprehensive list of movie and television preferences. Through these preferences, users would be directed to suggested dialogue pages in order to discuss film news, or recent and past movies.
   Cine-mate will also act as a good indicator for new movie buzz. On each post, the user can like or dislike (just like facebook) the upcoming project or production decision. Users can put links to previews or other weblog articles on their profile page. In this way, the site maintains the "trending" factor of twitter. This site can give industry insiders an insight to the decisions they are making. Cine-mate would be free; the bulk of the revenue would be from advertising, which would most likely be for upcoming moves and television shows.